Woodland Park Zoo with Mick

Christmas Eve Day

Mick's music video

Jeff just got a flip camera from his school because they want him to film some stuff while in Haiti, so he decided to put it to good use in the meantime and he made this.

We're having a girl!!!

Yep that's right... we are having a girl. We are both super excited! I can't wait to start buying girly clothes.

Stats help from Mick

Jeff has been taking notes for his upcoming stats test. He is allowed to have 2 pages of notes. This morning he couldn't find them anywhere. He looked all over the desk, in his backpack, and other obvious places. In passing I said to Jeff "Oh in the future don't leave any important papers out because Mick will take them and color on them." Jeff kept looking and finally found his notes on Mick's coloring table. Mommy knows her little boy! Apparently Mick thought daddy was missing some very important information and so he decided to help out a bit by adding his own notes.

The best 3 years ever!!

Jeff and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary on November 17th. The past three years have been the best! I Love you Jeff. You are the best husband and daddy in the whole world! I look forward to many many many more years (to infinity and beyond...inside joke) together.

Our first date

I fell in love with Jeff on this camping trip


Engaged
Mick!!

Jeff's Great Jean Exchange

So Jeff's brother Ricky bought Jeff a nice pair of jeans from Nordstrom more than two years ago. As you can imagine they were quite worn from years of wear. They looked something like the picture above (not really, but you get the idea). They were worn thin on the knees and there was a hole in the crotch.

We've heard about Nordstrom's incredible return policy and today Jeff decided to test it out. This is not something I would EVER do... returning two-year-old jeans... way too embarrassing!

So we jumped in the car and headed to Nordstrom on a mission. We walked up to the counter and Jeff showed them the jeans and told them he would like to exchange them for a new pair. I couldn't stand even one more awkward second so I pushed Mick off in the stroller in a hurry. It doesn't take much to make me feel embarrassed. This about did me in!

Jeff was completely honest about how old they were, etc. Long story short... they exchanged them for a new pair!! Their return policy really is amazing! I still wouldn't do it, but Jeff loves his new jeans.

Golden Gardens Park

One of the best things about Seattle is all of the amazing parks. We went to Golden Gardens Park on Saturday. It was so nice to some good quality time together. It doesn't happen often these days because Jeff is so busy with B school. Mick had a great time playing in the sand, Jeff had fun doing tricks on a log and I laughed at Jeff doing tricks on a log.

Some Random Pics of Mick

For the Grandparents

Mick is saying...

-"bye bye" (bah bye)
He learned to say bye a long time ago, but he is using it in a new way. He says this whenever he wants to do something that is not parent approved. He'll turn to you and say bah bye and push you away so he can do something naughty. It hasn't worked for him a single time, but he keeps doing it.

-"Stop Mommy"
I bought some m&ms for Mick at the store the other day and he dropped a few in his car seat. When I ate them he looked at me very seriously and told me "stop mommy".

- "Dada tent"
He loves playing tent with daddy. The game tent consists of Mick saying Bah bye and Jeff puts the covers over his head and creates a tent. Mick jumps on the tent and collapses it. Great fun! He could play this for hours.

Mick's favorite things right now are... (in order)

1. Cars, trucks, tractors, trains, boats, buses
Mick is obsessed. He rarely goes anywhere without a car or truck in his hands. The other day we went to the D.I. to look for toys. I tried to hand him some cool dinosaurs. Not interested. He pulled out every single car and lined them up neatly. Jeff wishes he was as enthusiastic about balls as he is about vehicles:)

2. Blocks
Second to his beloved cars, Mick loves to play blocks and he is really good at building towers.

3. Still LOVES his blanky
4. Tacos
5. Chocolate ( when he says it sounds like chalkie)

There are so many cute and funny things he is saying and doing right now!

Westport, WA trip with Mom and Alies

Camping in Goblin Valley

chalk time

At the Beach with Grandma, Uncle and of course BLANKY!!

Easter egg hunt

Getty Museum and Santa Ana Zoo with Grandpa

We went to the Santa Ana zoo and mick enjoyed walking around the grounds and playing with sticks. We should just go to parks until he starts to care about animals a bit more. But I guess we enjoyed ourselves.

We also went to the Getty museum in LA and it was great. I can't believe it took us so long to decide to finally go. Parking is $10 bucks but entrance is absolutely FREE! I can't believe it. We saw things like Van Gogh's ireses and Monet and other famous artists' paintings as well.

Mud fun

l


There is nothing Mick loves more than being outside, especially being outside playing in mud!! At first I tried to keep him relatively clean when he was in the backyard, but after seeing how much fun he had getting all dirty I decided to embrace his "boyness" and now mommy and daddy turn on the spigot and let him go to town. It keeps him busy for a very long time, which I love. Here are some pics of the fun!

Mick loves playing with daddy!

More Pics of Mick

Bowers Museum

These pics are from the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana. It was awesome! I saw an amazing exhibit of African photographs and Mick had a blast at their kid's museum. The best part about it was that he played so hard he took a very long nap afterward.

Snow To Sand

Mick's 1!!

Mick turned 1 on January 3!! I made him a dinosaur cake that matched his favorite jammies (they have a picture of a dinosaur and say "I'm Dyno might!") He definitely wasn't shy about digging in and getting dirty.

the "man cold"

Leah sent this to me. I was sick last week....was she trying to send me a message.

Mick's first Halloween

I am the worst blogger ever!! I am finally posting Halloween pictures and it is almost Christmas. Oh well, better late than never. Mick is the cutest Bumble Bee I have ever seen!

Hike on the Stewart Falls trail

We decided to go on a "fun hike" this weekend up to Stewart Falls up past Sundance. We even saw a horse that Mick insisted on riding.

The latest pics

Here's some pics of Mick scaling the shelves, looking at the horsies in the back yard, playing with his cousin, reading with dad, getting into things... and more.

Enjoy!

My film debut

Some have heard that I was an extra for a rugby movie called 'Forever Strong' about 2 years ago. Well, it's finally coming out in September but I care very little if you go to it or not. It is in no way tied to my self confidence or self image whether or not it has any degree of cinematic success.

However, if you do want to see the BULK of facetime that I do get in the movie, you can do so by watching the trailer at http://rugbymovie.com/. Pay close attention to 26-27 seconds on the timeline and enjoy!

3 Arch Bay fun!

Mick wasn't a huge fan of the sand or the waves. The sand didn't taste good and the waves scared him. He liked it when the water was calm though. He was also a bit upset with me when I dunked him in the pacific ocean.

"I get all the girls" by Calvin Harris

latest and greatest!

cousins!

Grampa with Micky at the pool in st george

the follwing weekend we went back down to st george and rick and sarah came out from SF. It was a great weekend, mostly because I shot the moon 3 times in one game of hearts.

Mick likes to splash more and more every time we go to the pool. He's excellent at the backstroke as well.

This is me and mick on my new piglet. It's not quite big enough to be a hog.

he loves gramma and the outdoors

Leah took Mick to the zoo with her dad and sister and her sister's kids. Mick didn't really appreciate the animals as much as he did being outside. He's pretty easy to please at this age.

like father like son

This is post-dunk. I held my breath too cause I was nervous for my son.

26.2 for 10k

So Leah and I have just "launched" a fundraising blog that we are calling, "26.2 for 10k". We are going to raise $10,000 for a charity in the Dominican Republic to help build houses and other useful projects.

One of the primary ways we're going to do this is through people sponsoring Leah in her preparation for the St. George marathon (http://www.stgeorgemarathon.com/) in October of this year. Check out the blog (http://runfor10.blogspot.com/) for more info and to see how to contribute to this worthy cause!

Sometimes Mick and just sit and watch tv together.

and sometimes we go skateboarding...

His hair is coming in quite nicely. He even likes to part it.

This is his new thing. For some reason he always puts his left hand on the side of his head and grabs his blankey, shirt, or diaper with his right.

He likes hanging out with mommy too.

The happy sumo

I took this pic this morning on his changing table. He looks like the happy sumo guy. His new thing is to kick the blankets off thru the night. The other morning we walked into his room to see him rotated 180 degrees and out from under his blankets. He can't even roll over yet but he's a proficient night-scooter. He never scoots around on his back during the day, only at night when we can see.

This is the Rugby World Cup Qualifier match we played in Uruguay towards the end of '06. We ended up winning and I am wearing #11. This was my second to last game I played for the US team. It was a really fun trip and it was cool to talk trash in spanish to the Uruguayan players.

THanks for the great camera work, Katie!

San Diego 7s tourney

Family photo in front of our old beach, Cardiff Reef. Leah and I used to play scrabble on this beach each sunday. Good times!

Grampa with the boy

Good core strength Mick!

Close to Mick's bed time.

Triple Chin?!!a

Great Balance too!

Me, chad, mick, and our 1/2 asains.

Chillin' at the 7s.

Mick had a good time with Gma. Even though he struggles in the hair dept., he's sprouting more around his entire head.

He loves to smile in the mornings. Sorry all of the pics are with my camera phone. We lost our cord to connect our camera to the computer so for the moment, it's no going.

He's happiest on his changing table.

We need to get more mick standing photos on this blog. He gets a cute smile on his face like he's so pleased with himself.

Mick is really working on his leg strength. His vertical leap is pretty poor right now but check back in a couple of months.

Mick loves his baths. He even like to shower with his mommy. He likes all but the scrubbing part.

Leah and Mick had to take their morning nap on the couch cause I have been sick and have taken over the bedroom.

Uncle Todd holding little Mick. We went to the BYU game today versus Santa Monica and we lost 22-24. It's great to be in SoCal even if it's just for the weekend. We're really looking forward to watching Todd and the rest of the guys playing in the USA 7s tournament tomorrow. Go eagles! Stay tuned for a bunch of more fotos next week when we get around to posting them! Our favorite pic is a family picture of me leah and mick in cardiff by the sea overlooking the ocean during sunset.

You can see where mick scratched himself under his eye. Leah sends me pictures throughout the day and it's my job to poste 'em.

Lorenzo por la mañana

Mick is really starting to get a personality. Yesterday he was smiling when we would kiss him on his fat little cheeks. I think he got leah's kissable cheeks. He also wore his favorite outfit this weekend at the rugby games in St. George. Oh yeah, and thanks to grandma Becky, Leah and I got the most sleep ever since getting him home from the hospital.

Mickster chillin in his new digs. We can officially put his diaper on properly now that we can take part of the straps off. This is going to cut his laundry in half. Thanks abuela Claudia for the outfit!

Mick's first glamour shot.

It really was an incredible journey. (The cat is Mick)

HOME AGAIN

Well, Leah and I have finally brought our little baby Mick home to Provo. He seems to like his new room, although we had to take the surfing monkey off of his changing table because of all the creams and ointments and supplies necessary to change his diaper.

His first two nights home were hard on Leah and me and we're just getting used to being up most of the night. Mick has done well from 4am-7am which we're very grateful for. Stay tuned for more pics of Mick NOT in the hospital.

This is the first picture in a while that shows mick's beatiful face without any tubes taped to it.

As Jeff mentioned, I spend most of my time with our little Mick at the hospital. Today was a GREAT day!! They removed some of his tubes, took out his IV, and gave me the okay to nurse him whenever he wants... he is becoming quite the little boob man (just like his dad!). Thank you all for your support and prayers.

Mick is doing very well right now. He is nursing like a champ and is not on any pain meds anymore. It's looking like he'll get out of primary childrens within the week. At least we're crossing our fingers for that. He's getting out of his newborn funk and is starting cry like babies do, although he loves to be held and calms right down with his little binky. Leah has been logging many hours bedside and I get there after work to enjoy some father-son time.

little micky boy asleep in my arms.

Mick is a smiley boy already.

Mick voted cutest in all of Primary Childrens

Yesterday, the nurses let us know that Mick was the cutest baby they've ever seen, including their own children. Good job, son!

Yesterday we were hanging out with Mick and he was sleepy when we were holding him and he woke right up when we put him into his bed. I couldn't help but take some pics cause he was so cute.

Here is Leah with little baby Mick right after I caught him. That is one of the benefits of going with a midwife, she let me help to pull him out and put him on leah's tummy. Then I cut the cord. Leah did great. She was only pushing for about 10 minutes and mick's little black hairs were showing. We were both basket cases when he came out and let out a good cry.

Unfortunately, Mick had a little defect. He had a small hole in his tummy where his bladder was exposed and coming out. He wasn't on her stomach for 10 seconds before they took him into the nursery to have a doctor look at him. He was there about an hour and then loaded him into the transportation unit and took him up to Primary Children's Hospital up in SLC. I was able to ride up with him so we were thankful for that.

Mick was a tough little baby though. He barely winced when they were poking the needle around his forehead looking for a vein for the IV. He really IS his father's son!

Today, they operated on him and repaired the hole and closed his pelvis. To keep things "together" they wrapped his two legs together like a "Mer-man" (also a movie-reference to Zoolander) but it hasn't seemed to bother him too much. He came out of surgery doing doing very well, he only used the breathing tube for about 30 minutes.

The doctors say that we might be able to bring him home as soon as within a week. We really hope that is the case but we're very grateful for the care he's getting in the NICU. He's got his own nurse that takes care of just him, so we don't worry too much. Luckily, we're been able to spend a lot of time at his crib-side since he's been there. He is also lucky to have a bunch of grandparents around to keep him company as well.

You also see some pics of him in his "fighter goggles" to protect his eyes from the light he's under to help with the jaundice. Those are my favorite pics I think.

We'll keep you all posted through this as it is much easier to explain his progress once, instead of saying it a hundred times.

Miles and Devon are growing so quickly and are the best of friends. I took them down to the train tracks and showed them the trains. Miles was disappointed that there wasn't an engine anywhere, just train cars. Then we went to go get some icecream where Devon picked his two flavors and Miles got the same ones. They were taking forever to eat their icecream so I helped them to finish.

some of the latest pics. The picture of miles is funny cause I couldn't time it right while he was in the air. We stopped trying after miles jumped too far and nailed his head on the end of the couch and hit the wood underneath. I'm good at being the reckless uncle.

Leah was having contractions 5 minutes apart for a few hours so she thought she was going into labor. Her mom and sisters jumped in the car and came up from st george to be with us but turns out it was a false alarm, to all of our disappointment. We did have a good time though and got to hang out with the nieces and nephews.

One picture is chad, jason pye and me at some ohio state restaurant on a rugby trip. The other is some of the fam at delicate arch in moab. The only thing that the 2 pictures have in common is the fact that I dominated at hearts in both places.

Team USA before the Uruguay match. I'm in the front with my knee down.

little surfing monkey to keep watch over little baby elwood

GO cougars

Ricky, Katie and me watching our BYU cougars beat the Utes...again.

Ridell and me on the top of his building in down town SD. Go padres. Hopefully he still lives there when we come down to visit next season.

Another disappointed Ute fan.

He's a little bummed after a tough loss the Y, GO COUGARS!

Against Cal in the final. We lost 26-29. I'm starting to get over it.

Leah and Katie at my last international game. It was the homoe game vs. Uruguay. It was at Stanford and a few months before Leah and I were married. I think I had just proposed.

national anthem in uruguay. they had a band behind us playing our national anthem. It was pretty cool. They even played it correctly.

Always a bridesmaid, never the bride. Singapore 7's tourney.

View from the Ritz Carlton room where we spent part of our honeymoon. We're coming up on a year soon (Nov. 17) and I think we're both comfortable with our decision.

All of the ombac players in the eagle pool last summer. The black guy with dreads will be on next season's Last One Standing on the discovery channel. I'll be hoping for a shout out.

OMBAC vs Santa Monica. This was one of my last games.

After the Uruguay game my number was drawn to do a random steroid screening. They were content with me just taking my shirt off. They were totally convinced.

RWC Qualifier-Uruguay

Thsi was the Rugby World Cup Qualifier match played in Montevideo, Uruguay. Definitely a highlight for me. My dad came down and went to the game and was one of the few USA supporters there.

We spent a lot of time on the nasty utah lake this summer. This was pre-belly for Leah

First interview ever (also the last). Looks like I'll have to break the law or something to get another one.

Try time!

Here is a pic of my glory days. I wish vaha weren't blocking me. This picture captured all 5 of the mormons playing in this game vs. Ireland A. This was my first Eagles match. I don't remember it very well cause I got concussed in the last 5 minutes of the match.

Here is little Evan or Elwood or whatever name we decide next week. Leah is growing in her stomach region every week.

I'm a blogger now. The future is now!